If you can remember the Sony’s last handheld; the PSP, you’ll be able to remember how it was severely exploited. This wasn’t a completely bad thing, for one it increased hardware sales but at the same time impacted software sales. However, lightning looks like it is about to strike twice with the possibility of running home-made (homebrew) applications through the upcoming PlayStation Vita system.

Wololo, is one of the developers determined to bring a sense of freedom to the devices we buy and has made significant progress to porting a homebrew application loader to the PlayStation Vita using a game save exploit. This loader is called Vita Half-byte Loader (or VHBL for short). This effectively means that you can run emulator’s and homebrew on the go, so you can think of how wonderful emulating systems could be with such a powerful device. Below is a video demonstration of a few homebrew applications in action:

However, there are limitations and things need to be outlined. This will not miraculously enable piracy, so users cannot load or play game ISO’s or cartridge rips. Not all homebrew applications from the PSP will work due to the Vita having a completely new set of hardware, so compatibility is an issue for now. That means N64 emulators and other applications alike are unlikely to run at full speed for a while.

VHBL is an exploit of a PSP Game save. This means that you will have to buy that game on the PSN in order to run VHBL which means that as soon as this game is discovered by Sony, it will most likely be removed. However, if you're interested and want more information on the project itself, visit Wololo’s blog regularly.